Remember My Story

006

"I called in a favor..."

"The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain."

-Karl Marx

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Hope POV

    The next day Rafael came in with the gang trailing behind him. Josie and Jade come in last. Josie looks annoyed and angry while Jade looks happy. I look away because I don't want to think about them. He held up a big book and said, "I know what the cure is!" "That's great! Give me a second to wake Penelope up." I look down at Penelope who's snoring into my side. Her arms are wrapped around me and her face is in the crook of my neck. 

   I shake her gently and say, "It's time to get up love." She groans and throws the blanket over her head. She turns away from me. I grip the blanket and yank it off the bed completely. "Get up!" "Just five more minutes." She curls up into a tight ball and falls asleep again. I shake my head and reach out my hands to tickle her.

    Her eyes pop open and she starts laughing. "Stop it!" I don't listen and keep going. "I swear to god, Hope. If you don't stop whenever you have beignets I'm going to eat them all." After hearing that, I stop immediately. She looks around the room and sees everyone. "Shit. I just acted like a kid in front of everyone." They all nod. Penelope just shrugs.

    There's an awkward silence before Rafael starts talking. "So, I was reading up on the claws of Ladon. Apparently, the cure is simple. You need Philodendron." "Is that even English?" I roll my eyes at Lizzie's remark. "Philodendron is a rare plant otherwise known as the golden dragon. It can only be found in New Orleans." Great. Just great. The cure to the wound that hurts like a bitch is in New Orleans. "But you need to mix it with verbenasque premens and lupus perniciosa." "Well, what is that?" Josie asks clearly tired of this conversation.

   "Vervain and wolfsbane," I say. Rafael looks at me. "Yup. After mixing it into a paste you need to apply it directly to the wound. This means you need to like stick the paste into the wound." I grimace at the thought. That's gonna hurt. "Alright, let me get ready and then we can go to New Orleans." Penelope protests but I don't listen to her. I struggle to sit up but I'm able to do it without help. I swing my legs over the bed and put my feet on the ground. 

    I use the bed for support but I'm able to stand up. I walk around ignoring the searing pain in my side. Caroline walks in and says, "What are you doing standing up?" I look at her. "Well, I'm going to New Orleans to get the plant." She shakes her head. "I called in a favor from the Mikaelsons. They're coming here with the plant." 

    Did she just say my family's coming here? I Shit. Shit. "I- I need to get some air." I quickly say before running out to the garden. As I leave the room I see Josie whisper something to Jade and they laugh. The doors make a loud noise as they close. I shake my head trying to stop my tears. I sit on the bench and take a deep breath. But I'm unable to stop the wave of tears that come. I drop my head into my hands. "Are you okay?" I look up at the voice of Caroline. I sniffle and say, "Yeah, I'm totally fine." She nods. "I remember when I was a teenager. It was so complicated back then. Not as complicated as your situation but it was something." I nod not really understanding what she's trying to say.

   "The water doesn't break the rock with strength, but with persistence. If you stay with the people who love you, then eventually she'll come around and see what a great person you are. This bad feeling will go away eventually." I chuckle at her. "The worst feeling is being lonely. I'm not even lonely. It's being forgotten by someone I can and will never forget." I look at Caroline who stares at me with pity.